


Presentation

by gemstonecircles



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: F/M, FT what FT, Gen, Gratuitous discussions of grooming, Haircuts, Post-EW, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29081151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemstonecircles/pseuds/gemstonecircles
Summary: “These salon trips not only require extremely complex logistical security measures, but they are also an incredibly wasteful of resources, time, and money. I would think that your energies would be better focused elsewhere. It’s utterly impractical, and a waste of time.”
Relationships: Relena Peacecraft/Heero Yuy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Presentation

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to cookami for the beta! You are so wonderful!

**Presentation**

Relena didn’t even have the courtesy to look up from the screen she was pouring over.

“That’s a hard no, Heero.”

He didn’t budge from where he was leaning, arms crossed, at the doorway to her office.

“It’s a security nightmare, Relena. Potential weapons everywhere, biochemical agents present at all times, not to mention that during these appointments you aren’t at your most,” he paused to consider, “alert.”

Relena hmmed gently and continued reading on her screen.

“We’ve been over and over this. Would you at least consider the alternatives?”

She finally looked up, placing the papers she had been holding in her free hand down on her desk. Her gaze was gentle but firm.

“I understand your concerns, Heero, I really do. But there are certain risks and expectations that have to be managed in order to maintain the presentation and responsibilities of my office.”

Heero scowled, “These salon trips not only require extremely complex logistical security measures, but they are also an incredibly wasteful of resources, time, and money. I would think that your energies would be better focused elsewhere. It’s utterly impractical, and a waste of time.” 

Relena’s gaze turned steely, “Heero, you know I would never lecture you about the dangers and responsibilities of your job…” Heero was suddenly nervous. When Relena started a conversation with a caveat, he knew she was about to rip someone, or at least their argument, apart.

Relena curled a small hand under her chin and looked up with deceptive casualness. “Do you know what it is like to have every aspect of your appearance picked apart? Do you know how hard it is to get people to  _ listen _ to anything you say when all they seem to be interested in is the fact that you ate too many dumplings at Christmas or the unfortunate color of your lipstick? I have to think of  _ every _ nuance of  _ every _ single item I wear, the shades of makeup I put on, how much, how little, how high are my heels, is my skirt too long? Too short? If I have any way to help it, I’m not going to deal with any ‘ _ Going grey so soon, Minister _ ?’ or ‘ _ Minister Darlian’s New Do? Hit or Miss? _ ’ There is no way that I am not placing my hair in the hands of a professional. Presentation is part of my job. Presentation matters.” 

She turned back to the screen, “Besides, what’s the other option?”

“I cut  _ my  _ hair myself.”

Relena snorted inelegantly and managed to turn it into a cough, “Somehow I am not surprised by that.”

“Duo cuts his own hair.”

“Duo can just trim the bottom of his braid. That’s different.”

“I bet Sally cuts her own hair.”

Relena turned to stare at him, incredulous. “You actually think that  _ Sally Po _ , one of the most professional, put-together, beautiful women I know,  _ does her own hair _ ?”

Heero shrugged, “Sally’s a soldier. She would be practical about this.”

Relena held up one finger and picked up her phone. Locking eyes with Heero, she punched in a few numbers and continued to stare him down. “Hello, Preventers Medical? This is Minister Darlian speaking. I’m just fine, how are you? Would you please ask Major Po if she would mind stepping over to my office before lunch? No, it’s no emergency, she and I are already scheduled to meet at the top of the hour. I just need her advice on a diplomatic matter, and wondered if she would stop by my office beforehand? Yes, thank you so much. No, it’s my pleasure. Thank you!”

She went back to ignoring Heero and typing at her screen. Aggressively.

Not five minutes into the heavy silence, Sally appeared at the door, bright red lips curved into a grin and bouncy braids hanging over her shoulders.

“What’s up, Buttercup?” She winked, giving Heero a gentle punch on the shoulder as she passed, “Hello ‘Lena, what’s this ‘diplomatic issue’ I can help you with? If Duo blew something up, I told him last time that I wasn’t posting bail again.”

Relena smiled warmly at Sally, and began briskly gathering the papers on her desk together and stacking them neatly. “Oh nothing like that! This might be a silly question, but I was just wondering if you could tell me who does your hair? It always is so shiny and gorgeous! And mine is getting” she held up a strand for emphasis, “a bit too long. I thought you might have a good recommendation?”

Heero tensed slightly in the doorway.

Sally didn’t seem to notice. “Oh,  _ that _ kind of diplomatic issue! Are you looking for a new stylist? I love De Laria’s over on Regency Place, above that shop with the crazy delicious macaroons.” 

She helped herself to a cup of coffee from the setting on Relena’s side board, adding sugar, no cream, and leaned casually against the wall. “I started going there last year. They do such a good job and actually know what to do with different hair textures. I swear, it takes so much lift to get my hair this light and I really don’t want to deal with the damage. I had enough straw hair in my teenage years from home bleaching, thank you. And Angelica is really great at blending my roots in for long missions, so I don’t look like complete trash when I get back. Also, tinted and bulletproof glass windows, which is a nice touch, for those of us who are a bit paranoid. And free champagne. I started making Wufei go there too, I think the complementary scalp massages are improving his attitude.”

Heero gaped, “ _ Wufei  _ goes to get his hair done?”

Sally turned and gave him a  _ look. _ “What, did you think he cut it himself?”

Heero knew when he was beaten. The only path was a noble retreat. As the two women continued chatting and preparing for their lunch, he started the walk back towards the neighboring Preventers building and his own office.

He ran a hand through his own messy mop of hair. On some level, he had assumed that Relena’s visits to the salon were a needless burden, but listening to Sally and Relena talk, he realized that they were not only a work necessity, but that they were also an  _ escape _ . Relena wasn’t just fulfilling a duty, she was deferring to an expert and then trusting in that expertise. And that trust, that momentary calm in the storm, apparently had its benefits. 

Whatever the benefits, he couldn’t imagine staying calm through the fuss and pageantry of the salon visits Relena routinely sat through. But then again, she was right. Presentation did matter. Presentation, and the choice of presentation, was part of this new, peaceful world that she had shaped. The world that, at least nominally, he was now part of. When he thought about it, when he truly thought about it, the insistence on keeping control over every aspect of his life was a remnant of the war, a remnant of when anything and everything was a liability. 

It wasn’t a liability now. 

And if haircuts were part of this brave new world, well… He didn’t think he could follow Wufei’s example and submit to a scalp massage and flutes of champagne without screaming, but maybe a basic, old-fashioned barber shop would be a baby step in the right direction.  He’d have to ask Trowa for a recommendation.

  
  
  
  



End file.
